Vanguard tops Lake Weir for first win of season

Vanguard coach Travis Licht talks to his players during a time out in Friday night’s game against Lake Weir. [Photo by Mark Pinson]

Vanguard senior guard Kevin Campbell scored a team-high 17 points to pace the Knights to a 56-48 win over Lake Weir on Friday night. Vanguard earned its first win of the season in improving to 1-2 on the season.

“We’ve got a long way to go but we’re getting there,” said Knights coach Travis Licht. “We’ve got a lot of things to clean up, but we played hard, made plays when we had to and stuck together. This is definitely a step in the right direction.”

The loss dropped Lake Weir, which missed a number of free throws in the competitive contest, to 2-3 overall.

“It was a tough game, and it was a fun game to coach and a fun game to watch,” said Hurricanes coach Freddie Riley. “Both teams had a lot of energy, played with a lot of effort and it was a good crowd. Missed free throws hurt us and we gave up a lot of offensive rebounds, which really killed us. The frustrating part is that we were getting out-rebounded when our biggest most athletic guys were in the game.”

Both teams worked the ball around looking for high percentage shots to open the game. Vanguard senior guard Brenden Barber scored four of his eight points and junior forward Matt Dial added two baskets in the paint to give the Knights a narrow 13-11 lead heading to the second quarter.

Vanguard extended its lead to 20-13 as Brandon Haughton drained a 3-pointer from the left wing and Barber added four points. Lake Weir battled back as John Smith scored three of his 13 points and Antonio Jackson added a pair of baskets to pull the Hurricanes within 24-22 at the half.

Every time Vanguard would pull ahead, Lake Weir answered with a run of its own in the third period. Vanguard junior Darnell Goodman scored six of his nine points, but Lake Weir’s Antonio Jackson poured in eight of his game-high 20 points to leave the Hurricanes trailing by a score of 40-37 heading to the final eight minutes.

Campbell got hot and scored nine points to give Vanguard a 47-37 lead midway through the final stanza. Lake Weir refused to quit as Amar Young scored four points and Smith had five to narrow its deficit once again. Vanguard’s defense forced a pair of turnovers which were turned into easy baskets, including an emphatic breakaway dunk by junior Dylan Harris for a 54-47 lead with under a minute to play.

Class 5A Vanguard ran out the clock to seal the victory over the Class 4A Hurricanes.

“This is the first game where we were at full strength,” coach Licht said. “It’s going to take some time for our football guys to get in basketball shape and get on the same page. Lake Weir’s best offense was off of rebounds, and we had to keep them off the glass or we weren’t going to win.”